Urban Swimming

Swimming Around the World - Paris

October 30, 2018

HAP Instigator and River Hugger, Janie Malloy was lucky enough to join fellow open water swimming mavericks, Laurence Dalbou and Sophie Apnee in a surreptitious swim in the Canal de l'Ourcq, Pantin. Laurence carries a portable ladder in her swim bag, in order to get in and out of the water. You see, open water swimming in Paris is technically forbidden, and we could have been arrested. The renderings of the Seine show how fun, healthy and vibrant the City waterfronts could be if leveraged for human activity. Portland is not the only city where human access to its river is being promoted, and this worldwide movement to have clean, swimmable rivers is a challenge that is ongoing. Thank you for joining HAP in this local effort that contributes to a worldwide movement to protect our rivers, and demonstrate that rivers can be revived and restored for healthy human and aquatic habitats.